Contributing Institution:
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum

11793 North Micke Grove Road

Lodi, CA 95240

Language of Material: Records written in English

Abstract: The Edwin Ehrhardt Photograph Collection consists of photographic prints and negatives taken or collected by Edwin Ehrhardt
(1915-1996), a Lodi, California, policeman, who off duty owned and operated Ehrhardt's Photo Shop with his wife, Winifred
Wood Ehrhardt (1920-2009). The images feature men, women, children, families, and other groups posing at weddings, engagements,
anniversaries, birthdays, and other occasions, as well as for passports, advertisements, and licenses. Also included is a
wide range of family heiroom photographs evidently entrusted to Ehrhardt for copying. The collection affords visual insights
into individuals and families from a cross-section of society; clothing fashions; and wedding practices in and around Lodi,
California, during the last half of the twentieth century.

Access Information

Collection is open for research by appointment.

Conditions of Use

The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.

A native of Kansas, Edwin Ehrhardt (1915-1996) moved to Lodi, California, as a youth. Graduating from Galt High School, he
worked briefly at a local tire manufacturer then joined the Lodi Fire Department. In 1948, he became an officer in the Lodi
Police Department and soon afterward won appointment as the Department's identification officer, a position he held until
his retirement two decades later. Ehrhardt subsequently attributed his hiring to his longstanding interest in photography.
Several years after joining the Lodi Police Department, he acquired the business (and possibly the stock) of Howard W. Rode,
a local photgrapher, and opened Ehrhardt's Photo Shop with his wife. The Ehrhardts' business is known to have taken official
photographs at more than fourteen hundred local weddings during its forty years in existence, many of which are included in
this collection. Ehrhard also photographed a variety of other events, took passport photos, and, among other services, prepared
copies of heirloom photographs for customers.

Scope and Content

The Edwin Ehrhardt Photograph Collection consists of two boxes of color and black-and-white prints and negatives featuring
men, women, children, families, and other groups posing for weddings, anniversaries, reunions, confirmations, and other occasions.
The subjects in each image are identified by name. The collection has been divided into four series: 1. Manuscripts, 2. Wedding
Photographs, 3. Assorted Prints and Negatives, and (4.) Unsorted Prints and Negatives. Metadata for all images can be searched
in the San Joaquin County Historical Museum's catalog.